Inferno Kingdom
by Crawbster
Summary: In the beginning four kingdoms dominated the land. Perhaps the mightiest of them all was ruled by the noble Carapaceons. However the mighty Carapaceons and their kingdom fell before a vile beast. Thousands of years later a descendant of the noble Carapaceon rulers is thrust into a world of danger as he must rally unlikely allies and return to his long lost home to slay the beast.


Inferno Kingdom

The ancient lands of the old world were a strange and mystifying place. The trees of the forests stood tall and erect. Proud of there trunks that were thick as a bulging fat Popo. The waters were clean cut like the rarest of jewels and fat with thousands of fish. The ice was immune to the thaw of summer and the grains of sand that withstood the impact of crushing waves ruled the beach.

Humans took second stage in the symphony of the world. The apes that crawled beneath the feet of the mightiest beasts. Fanged beasts, flying beasts, swimming beasts all ruled the land. Humans could say they were smarter and were dictated the dominant species but tolerance from the real rulers of the land was all that kept them squirming with life. Humans, being pompous as they were, abandoned the life of hunting and being hunted. The language of the land was lost to them. Those who stayed the course were gifted with the voice of the land. The beasts communed with one another in the native tongue.

Both the smallest and the largest of the beasts could speak to each other. However most all of the time spoke of the kingdoms. The divine kingdoms of the ancient world. Four kingdoms. As the story goes, when the world was new and not so ancient Mother Earth birthed the four kingdoms and as so not to be wasted she gave them to four hegemonies of which she created. To the far north of the ancient world she dug the deepest cave and planted inside it the richest ore. This kingdom of the earth, Aggreon, was given to those who could rule over it with an unbreakable will; and so it was the Brute Wyverns who inherited the land. Far East into the oceans Mother Earth grew and nurtured a vast coral expanse beneath which bubbled broiling magma. The kingdom of Belluaqua she gave to the massive and graceful leviathans. To the far south Mother Earth tore the ground asunder, raising from shattered and splintered rock impossibly high mountains that dared to touch the clouds. So she bestowed the kingdom of Hiaerus upon the Wyverns of the sky.

So Mother Earth came to her final kingdom in the west. Unleashing a monumental earth quake she ripped open the earth to reveal searing magma. Taking the magma in her hands she toiled for months building a fire spitter. A massive mountain made of pure volcanic magma. When she finally finished Mother Earth looked at the raw fury of the fire spitter and gave it to the most resilient of creatures, the Carapaceons.

Legends and myths trickled down the ages that Mother Earth had seen a small crab scuttling upon the rocks that were strewn about the fire spitter. It goes that she seized the insignificant little creature and without a second though thrust it into the bubbling magma. Erupting from the searing liquid a monstrous creature was born. Claws that could rend tree trunks, eyes that could pierce the deepest darkness, and upon it's back a magnificent shell that could withstand the bite of any beast. So the fiery kingdom Pakreon was given to the beast and its descendants. All beasts who roamed Pakreon knew there place below the Carapaceons. The strongest Wyverns fell in line beneath them along with the mass red skin packs that acted as Pakreons subordinate "cattle". The "cattle" were given free reign of the lower levels; breeding, eating, and fighting all the time. The Carapaceons took the highest level as there home. A massive self made catacomb that looked into the fire spitters hellish red heart. They looked over their dominion with satisfaction. Gurgling to each other in their ancient tongue. Brawling and laughing with one another. As the years passed they dug deep into the fire spitter, expanding their private upper levels. It was one day while a young and strong Carapaceon dozed in his hole that without conscious thought he buried his claw deep into the rock. Waking he struggled to rip the claw from the earth. Day in day out he struggled until finally with magnificent force he tore his claw from the earth. With it came an ethereal beauty.

Forged for centuries inside the fire spitters molten core the majestic uncut beauty that was the Igniok was brought to the light of day. So the precious stone was given to each generation of Pakreon high rulers until it came into the possession of the old ruler whose name would have sounded along the lines of Myrion; or any sort of variation along those lines. Myrion had taken care of only one soft shelled infant. (Fathered wouldn't be the right word because Carapaceons thought of raising soft shells as more of a duty and usually did not form any special attachments.) Whose name was Dyriol.

Myrion coveted the stone, keeping it to himself alone since he had first received it. Taking the horned crown upon his back he went as far as to have the stone beaten into the massive skull. He rubbed his claw delicately on the surface of the stone, he did this all the time. A darkness fell over Pakreon, warning of something terrible that would come. The old high ruler stowed himself away deep into the holes of the higher levels where he could be alone with the jewel. For a time everything was restored to its previous state. Dyriol took control and began straightening the order of things. The red skins below were forced back into place after boasting that they now owned the kingdom. The natural order of things was reinstated as the combined Carapaceon might crushed a blood thirsty intruding Wyvern threat. Balance was restored and the Carapaceons, with Dyriol as divine high ruler, looked over there dominion again proud and satisfied. Until the dragon came.

Far into the old worlds primeval forest another fire spitter stood. Although it was in no way the majestic kingdom that Pakreon was. The Gargwa were the only creatures who lived at the fire spitters desolate base. Small, flightless, and at the bottom of the food chain they didn't yearn for dominance like other creatures of the land. Word began to crawl through the forests, mountains, and swamps that passerby's had heard the Gargwa speaking dark things. Talking of an apocalyptic cataclysm that would befall the hard shells of the western kingdom Pakreon. A usurper that would throw the Carapaceons from their thrown. The Carapaceon hive that inhabited the land adjacent to the Gargwa home nest took violently to their acidic words. Marching to the base of the fire spitter it was told they seized each individual Gargwa by there flimsy necks and brutishly broke them between there claws. The ground was fertilized with the blood of every last Gargwa. It has been told the earth drank the blood greedily, sponging up every last drop. The Carapaceon hive returned to there land with there need for vengeance satiated with the slaughter of the Gargwa. The beasts of the land whispered that the earth moaned and grumbled with an unseen peril.

It was one day after the slaughter that the earth churned throwing massive upheavals of rock into the air. The ground beneath the solitary fire spitter of the forest cracked and splintered. Glowing orange magma slithered through the cracks and with a monstrous cry that could be heard for miles the fire spitter exploded. Lava spewed forth hurtling to the ground in mass torrents but before they could burn the trees and the earth they were caught upon the wings of an unholy beast.

If pronounced in the Elder language his name was Altiban: "Rider of the Apocalypse." And so he was, riding a wave of unequaled destruction the beast burned the forest and scarred the land until he came to the great kingdom Pakreon. Looking out from the maw of the fire spitter the Carapaceon hegemony saw him. His demon horns ripped into the sky and his eyes opened to reveal the red gates of the underworld. So Pakreon after thousands of years past in peace was besieged by an enemy of unbelievable power. The monster Altiban plowed into the fire spitter, cracking it open like a hungry arzuros is with a bee hive. He ate the red skins by the mouthful, driving the meager number of survivors into the scarred land where they quickly perished. Within days he had obliterated any and every creature that stood in his way. The monumental beast than traversed the upper levels where he found the waiting Carapaceon army. Hours and hours the two mighty forces fought tooth and claw. The armies numbers slowly depleted against the unheralded force of the blood thirsty usurper. With his lips dripping with the guts of the Carapaceon rulers Altiban took swift and murderous action against those who survived. He drove both young soft shells and aged hard shells down into the lower levels, every last one ran screaming all the way. There he burned them alive with vile fire. He drove the retreating rulers down further yet where he crushed those to weak to keep running beneath his feet.

Finally the retreating Carapaceons came to, after countless hours of running, the blue ocean that ran along the border of Pakreon. Many had never left the confines of the fire spitter and so, as the mass group sat staring at the massive fire spitter that was now defiled by the murderous beast, they wailed their rage and cursed the monster who had tossed them aside like common scraps. There long journey was not done yet. From the skies the dragon hurled itself towards the last of the great Carapaceons of Pakreon. However a shining light caught the beasts eye. Limping from the cover of a small patch of charred tree trunks was the old and decrepit Myrion. Glowing in the unholy light of the dragons fire the Igniok sat rooted into the horned crown of the old ruler. Seizing the pitiful Carapaceon with tremendous force Altiban bit down on the crown and with a jerk of his head ripped the stone free of the old high rulers skull crown before devouring Myrion but seconds later. The last Carapaceons dove into the safety of the water where those to slow or injured were boiled a alive as the dragon released a final blast of fire. Carrying the precious Igniok in his jaws Altiban took once again to the skies, oblivious of the carnage and fire he had wrought as he flew to the fire spitter.

Driven by blood lust and the need for vengeance Altiban was pursued by Dyriol. Dyriol followed Altiban into the deepest confines of the fire spitter. The almighty monster ignoring the Carapaceon ruler as he dredged through the fire and magma of the desecrated kingdom. Finally the elder dragon had tread too far into the searing heat of the fire spitter. It was here that the last great Carapaceon high ruler buckled beneath the intense hear. Dyriols Internal organs bubbled through the creases in his armor; his soft brain cooked in its shell. So Altiban was left to his prize jewel, sleeping in the deepest pit of the great fire spitter of Pakreon for uncountable centuries. In time the other kingdoms succumbed to age and fell, becoming merely insignificant parts of the landscape. However Pakreon stood true through the millennia. Not beast or man dared to quest inside the fire spitter for fear of bringing down the wrath of a god. The descendants of the cataclysm of Pakreon spread out across the new world. After generation upon generation of fading memory and recall the Carapaceons hatred evaporated into thin air. Tall tales and myth were all that remained of the apocalyptic overthrowing of the Carapaceon hegemony. As earth became more and more ancient, history faded into obscurity and the stories of ancient kingdoms and horrifying elder dragons became just that. Stories. So mankind and the beasts of the world trudged on through life with most never paying any attention to such ludicrous things. However hatred is never forgotten.


End file.
